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Team Ireland get underway in Tokyo; Under-20 glory for Offaly and Cork

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

The Offaly Under-20 team celebrate winning the Leinster championship. Photograph: Lorraine O’Sullivan/Inpho
The Offaly Under-20 team celebrate winning the Leinster championship. Photograph: Lorraine O’Sullivan/Inpho
Fri Jul 23 2021 - 07:28

Sanita Puspure got Team Ireland's Olympics off to the perfect start, dominating her heat to book a place in the quarter-finals of the women's single sculls rowing. Click here for our daily Team Ireland round-up to keep you up to date with the latest action from the early hours. Writing from Tokyo, Ian O'Riordan looks at Ireland's best medal prospects: "what already sets Team Ireland apart in Tokyo is their medal talk being so bountiful. Some more than others, naturally, the good thing is it could prove positively infectious."

Offaly finally returned to the winner's enclosure with a sensational victory over Dublin in the Leinster Under-20 football final. It was Offaly's first triumph in this grade since 1995 after a deserved 0-15 to 3-3 win. Cork were impressive 3-20 to 3-10 winners over Tipperary in the Munster decider. David Buckley was the star of the show with 10 points. In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Jackie Tyrrell explains why Galway need Daithí Burke on the edge of that square: "Good full backs are like hens' teeth. Great full backs – and make no mistake, Daithí Burke is a truly great full back – are a once-in-a-generation thing. They are a precious commodity."

Bohemians' 1-0 win over F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg moved them one step closer to the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. Bohs will have a precious advantage heading into the second leg at the Aviva Stadium courtesy of Ross Tierney's first-half strike. Dundalk came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Levadia Tallinn at the Tallaght Stadium. Will Patching and David McMillan provided the goals but Dundalk have a tough task ahead of them in Estonia next week.

Meanwhile, former Stormers, Munster and South African centre Jean de Villiers can't see there being a big margin in Saturday's opening Test between the British and Irish Lions and the Springboks. He's hoping rugby can be a shining light in a dark time: "It's taken South African minds away from all the bad. There are riots, we've been stuck in a Covid environment for 18 months and suddenly we have live rugby on TV and we have the Lions, which is always a massive event in South Africa."